2011 HHFF Instructor Biographies
Jill Carnell is a lawyer turned yarn, rug hooking, and basket weaving shop owner (Starstruck Cat Studio in Greenwood, Indiana). She lives on the Southside of Indianapolis with her husband, nine year-old stepson, and five cats. She loves empowering people to make something!
Earlynn Collier has taught knitting, crochet and needlepoint and has been active in arts and crafts for many years. Learning kumihimo was a natural extension of her interest in creating jewelry and it was with delight that she realized that much could be done with this braiding technique. She looks forward to sharing her interest in this craft with others.
Robin Edmundson is an award winning fiber artist specializing in color. She has extensive experience teaching and lecturing on spinning, weaving, dyeing, color theory and creativity. Robin was a recipient of an Indiana Artist Grant by the Indiana Arts Commission and her work has been shown in many fiber arts exhibitions and fine art/craft shows. She lives in Greene County, Indiana where she homeschools her children, gardens and uses all kinds of dyes. On dye days, she often looks like she jumped into the vats herself. Her fondest wishes are to conquer the bugs that attack her squashes every year and to train the ducks to pull the weeks but not the flowers out of the flower beds.
Barb Gallagher has been weaving since she stumbled upon a weaving studio in Los Angeles in 1971. She has a BA in Art from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio where she did her thesis on rug weaving. Her focus for the last 30 years has been primarily rugs, but she also enjoys weaving and other useful items such as towels, scarves, shawls and throws. She’s been teaching weaving for more than 15 years. She also owns The Weavers Loft, a retail weaving, spinning and knitting supply shop as well as the home of her weaving studio. She is an active member of the Weavers Guild of Greater Cincinnati as well as a member of the Miami Valley Weavers Guild, the Central Ohio Weavers Guild, BSSG, HGA, SWIFT and SWA.
Patti Hodge has been raising Alpacas and Llamas for 15 years. Her love of fiber and fiber arts developed and has progressed since this time. She began by taking several fiber classes from world renowned teachers that included: dyeing, spinning, rug hooking, and felting. Patti found her passion lies with wet and needle felting. For the last 10 years, she has been experimenting with different fibers and wool, trying out surface designs, embellishment, adding attachments and making her own patterns and shapes. She has taught several classes on Wet and Needle Felting at yarn and fiber shops, fiber festivals, group meetings, and in her home. Patti loves sharing her experiences with fiber and creating memories of a long ago art that is gaining in popularity. Patti believes that felting is an art that you can put a lot of creativity into and you do not always know how it will turn out, usually even better that you imagined, and if not, you can always make something else from it. She has learned that it is possible to recycle many items with great success.
Patricia Hokenson has always had a love of hand crafted wool items: hats, scarves, mittens, blankets—whatever can be made from wool. It is truly a huge subject that requires endless collection and crafting of wool in its many and varied forms. The portable Hand-looms, crafted by her husband, Alan, provide yet another outlet for making a variety of hand crafted wool items.
Stefania Isaacson has been a life-long knitter, and started spinning and dyeing to supply herself with 'the best yarns in the world!' She got her Certificate of Excellence in Hand spinning from the Handweavers' Guild of America in 1997. Since then she has opened her own business called Handspun by Stefania and taught numerous workshops dealing in natural dyes, spinning and basket-making. She has spoken about the fiber arts to numerous groups, and has appeared on Home & Garden TV as a guest on the Carol Duvall Show. She sells handspun, natural hand dyed yarns, original knitting kits using her own yarns and patterns, hand dyed roving dyed with natural dyes, and handmade baskets. She was previously a high school English teacher and now enjoys teaching spinning, dyeing and knitting to fiber enthusiasts.
Galina Khmeleva, owner of Skaska Designs and author of Gossamer Webs: the history and techniques of Orenburg lace shawls and Gossamer Webs, the Design Collection, has earned the reputation as one of the most respected and knowledgeable lace knitting instructors in the country. As a former clothing and costume designer who worked with the 'aristocracy' of St. Petersburg's music and theater society, Galina was a pioneer in breaking down barriers in the 'new' Russia that allowed Russian women the opportunity to achieve ownership status in private companies. As the principal student to Orenburg's lace knitting elite, Galina brings the classic style and revered traditional knitting techniques of Russian lace to her classes. Her unique, inspiring and fun-loving teaching style has made her the guru of lace enthusiasts across the US And as an extra bonus, Galina's classes are an awesome, unforgettable cultural experience.
Bev Larson has been weaving since 1988 and teaching since 1999. She loves to share the joy of basket weaving with those around her and has done so by teaching in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Kentucky, North Carolina and Oklahoma. Making basket weaving fun, relaxing and inspiring is her goal. She came in first place in the Eiteljorg Weavers Challenge.
John Salamone has been spinning and weaving for over 25 years. He started with a few angora rabbits, a spinning wheel and a rigid heddle loom. All these years later, he still has a few angora rabbits, a few more spinning wheels and many more looms. He works with many fibers and many looms now, but he still has a passion for rigid heddle looms. He enjoys teaching beginning students and helping them on their own fiber journey.
Kandy Schwandt learned to spin in college and has spent the last twenty-some years participating in every kind of fiber production she can, from wrangling sheep for shearing to unwinding silkworm cocoons. She has studied with talented spinners from all over the world and is in the process of earning a Master Spinner certificate through Olds College in Alberta, Canada. She is fortunate to have grown up in a family of talented craftspeople who encouraged her love of fiber for sewing, weaving, knitting, and crochet, and to live with a partner who doesn't mind that the house has a fiber studio instead of a dining room. She also shares her home with eight rabbits, some of whom provide fiber for spinning. Kandy teaches spinning at Yarns Unlimited in Bloomington, IN. When not spinning, she is an Art Director and a volunteer wildlife rehabilitator specializing in rabbits.
Mary Scott, an award winning educator and owner of Serendipity Farm and Studio in Suffolk, Virginia, has been teaching fiber-related classes for nearly 30 years. Her passion is 18th Century textiles as woven and dyed in the early history of the American colonies. As the demonstration weaver at George Washington’s Mount Vernon for 8 years, she interfaced with thousands of adults and school children. She has also served as the weaver in Heritage Village at the State Fair of Virginia for nearly 20 years. Mary teaches classes in spinning, weaving and natural dyeing for guilds, museums and colleges and offers weekend workshops anywhere. Her Mushroom Dye Workshops are definitely to dye for! Besides teaching weaving at the Suffolk Center for the Cultural Arts every week, she offers private and group workshops in beading, needle weaving, broomstick lace, inkle weaving and other unique textile construction techniques at Serendipity Farm’s Studio.
Nan Talley was originally an artist using oils as her medium. She discovered felting as a result of raising llamas. She had fiber from shearing the llamas and was preparing to take them to a show. She wanted an original farm banner. Nan had seen felt and decided that is how she wanted to make the banner, but she had no knowledge. With emailed direction from a friend in Oregon, she created her first felt piece…..a 3 ½ X 5 ½ banner. Thus the love of felting was born. Having a thirst for learning more felting techniques, she has studied under numerous national and international felting experts and is appreciative of the skills she has learned. Having a concept, feeling the movement of fiber under her hands culminating in the creation that was in her mind is the most exciting part of Nan's day. Now she passes her love of felting to her students. She was invited by the University of Indianapolis to be a guest instructor teaching felting. Her felt has been exhibited in Wisconsin, Virginia and Indiana. She currently is part of an exhibit in Bloomington, Indiana.
Carol Wagner has been spinning for over twenty years and began dyeing to satisfy her love of color. She uses the dyed fiber to card into rovings which become one of a kind designer yarns. Carol works with fibers on a daily basis at Hidden Valley Woolen Mill, which she operates with her husband Paul. Her choice of fiber comes from the flock of 215 Coopworth sheep.